Senator Darryl Ervin Rouson
SPECIAL GUEST

Senator Darryl Ervin Rouson has long been a trailblazer. In 1981, he became Pinellas County’s first African American prosecutor. He led the St. Petersburg NAACP from 2000 to 2005 and served on Florida’s Taxation and Budget Reform Commission and Constitutional Revision Commission. He was elected to the Florida House in 2008 and the Senate in 2016, now representing District 16. He currently serves as Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Appropriations and has chaired the Senate Agriculture Committee.

A champion for behavioral health policy, Sen. Rouson has focused on substance use disorders and mental health, sponsoring key bills including SB 282 and SB 1620. He’s celebrated 27 years of sobriety and often shares his recovery story statewide. His leadership has earned him the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award from Drug Free America Foundation and the Torchbearer Award from Live Tampa Bay. Sen. Rouson holds degrees from Xavier University and the University of Florida. He and his wife Angela have raised five sons, and he practices law with Rubenstein Law in Tampa Bay.

Emma Benoit
KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Emma Benoit, became a dedicated advocate for suicide prevention following a life-altering suicide attempt in 2017. Once a high-achieving student and varsity cheerleader, Emma silently battled depression and anxiety. Her attempt resulted in paralysis but also marked the beginning of her journey toward healing, purpose, and advocacy. She now shares her story to raise awareness and inspire hope.

“Emma’s story captures the severity of the mental health and suicidality pandemic amongst the adolescent population in the United States. My Ascension is a serious yet uplifting story that provides hope, clarity and support to its audience from a personal perspective.”
– Saro Altinoglu, PSY.D, ROWI Teen and Parent Wellness Center

Lindsey Brown
Director of Training and Partnerships with the Florida LEADS

Lindsay Brown, M.Ed. Ed.S. is the Director of Training and Partnerships with the Florida LEADS Zero Suicide Project, a federal grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) that works to build suicide safer communities throughout Florida. Lindsay has specialized in suicide prevention since 2007, beginning her work as a suicide hotline counselor and earning her master’s and specialist degrees in Mental Health Counseling from the University of Florida. Since joining the grant implementation team at University of Central Florida, University of South Florida, and Florida Behavioral Health Association in 2015, Lindsay has trained over 7,000 people in suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention strategies and coached countless behavioral health, health, school and community support service systems across the state in suicide evidence-based practices. 

Nick Padlo

Nick Padlo is a small business leader, entrepreneur, and native of Jacksonville Florida. He received his undergraduate degree from the United States Military Academy (West Point), where he served as the Chairman of the Honor Committee. After West Point, Nick served for 5 years in the United States Army, where he spent 27 months in combat operations between Afghanistan and Iraq, earning the Bronze Star and Combat Action Badge. He attended Stanford University for business school, and later went on to become CEO of an Inc1000 growth company. His move into substance abuse treatment is a result of his personal battle with depression, anxiety, and substance use disorder. After getting treatment himself, Nick defined his personal mission as helping others through similarly dark times. He believes that everyone can find their way back, regain their lives, and live a life free of suffering. Sophros was designed to be just that place, where clients across North Florida can develop a set of tools that can help them establish their own personal road to recovery.

Kevin Stamper

Kevin Stamper is a dynamic and influential public speaker, celebrated as one of the most captivating voices in professional communication today. A highly sought-after consultant, Kevin has worked with businesses, NGOs, and political campaigns worldwide, helping them shape and share their messages effectively.

With an M.A. in Professional Communication from the University of Tampa, Kevin combines academic expertise with hands-on experience, offering audiences a unique and practical perspective. His dedication to elevating communication skills has earned him the title of #1 Speaker in America by Toastmasters International, and in 2017, he placed 3rd in Toastmasters’ World Championship of Public Speaking.

Lynn Sherman

Lynn Sherman serves as the Executive Director of Health Programs for the City of Jacksonville on Mayor Donna Deegan’s executive team. A seasoned leader with more than 40 years in healthcare, she previously served as Executive Director of Community Health and Transformation at Baptist Health. Her work centers on advancing health equity and addressing social determinants of health through collaboration and innovation.

Lynn holds a Master’s in Health Administration and is a certified Community Health Leader through the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine. She is a founding member and past board chair of 904WARD, a board member of the Northside Community Involvement, a board member of Leadership Jacksonville, a member of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, and co-leads the annual city-wide Girls Empowerment Conference.

Randi Glossman

Randi Glossman is the Commander of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO) Health and Wellness Section, where she leads a robust portfolio of wellness-focused programs including Peer Support, Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM), Officer-Involved Shooting response, Chaplaincy, comprehensive counseling, military spousal support, the station dog program, and more.

A 32-year veteran of Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, Commander Glossman brings decades of operational experience and leadership to her current role. She served as a Crisis Negotiator for 23 years—rising to lead the unit—before being appointed to Sheriff Waters’ executive staff. She is trained in Peer Support and is ICISF-certified in Critical Incident Stress Management.

Dr. Sunil Joshi

Dr. Sunil Joshi was born and raised in Jacksonville. He grew up in Arlington and attended Terry Parker High School and then the University of Florida.  He practices Allergy/Immunology in his private practice which has 5 locations all over Northeast Florida.   

He is passionate about public health and is responsible for the #FluVaxJax initiative that increased influenza vaccination rates in Duval County during the COVID pandemic by offering free flu vaccine vouchers to those without health insurance. He was appointed by Mayor Deegan to be Jacksonville’s first Chief Health Officer in 2023. Dr. Joshi is passionate about all things Jacksonville and is excited about collaborating with leaders throughout the community to improve local health outcomes.

Astrid Colon Torres

Astrid Colon Torres is a bilingual Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) fluent in both English and Spanish. With over a decade of experience, she has built an impactful career working with a variety of populations. Her professional journey spans several fields, including juvenile justice, healthcare, immigrant communities, and community mental health advocacy. Astrid excels in facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration to provide holistic care to her clients. She is licensed to practice in both Florida and Pennsylvania and brings a comprehensive understanding of biopsychosocial models, trauma-informed care, and crisis de-escalation techniques. These areas of expertise allow her to make nuanced clinical assessments and ensure the safety and well-being of those in her care. Currently, Astrid serves as a Mental Health Professional with the Co-Responder Program at the Mental Health Resource Center, partnering with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office to deliver high-quality, ethical mental health services. She is deeply committed to cultural responsiveness and social justice, ensuring that her practice reflects the values of equity, respect, and dignity for all individuals in the community.

Brannon Hicks

Brannon is the military and first responder program manager for Here Tomorrow.  He is a former police sergeant and assistant, SWAT team leader, and he has trained officers around the country in Krav Maga. Brannon is also a suicide survivor and knows what it’s like to struggle with mental health.  

Having lost family and fellow brothers and sisters in law-enforcement, today his focus continues to be on saving the lives of military service members and first responders through suicide prevention with Here Tomorrow, as a certified recovery peer support specialist. 

Genesis Krampert

Genesis started her mental health career at Child Guidance as an intern with Full-Service Schools in 2017. In 2021 she obtained her licensure as a Licensed Mental Health Therapist and transferred to the mobile response team in January of 2022. In August of 2022, she became the Licensed Supervisor of the team. That fall the Child Guidance Center’s mobile response team expanded to serve all of Duval County, adults and children. Genesis transitioned into her current role as Program Director in January of this year. Genesis is proud to have served Duval County through her work over the years as a school therapist, rapid responder, and now as Director of the county’s mobile response team. Suicide prevention is a large part of her team’s work which includes training corrections officers and JSO through their CIT program, DCPS staff, and multiple mental health agencies on crisis de-escalation, Baker Act prevention, and suicide prevention. 

Hannah Hackworth, LCSW, MBA

Hannah is a social entrepreneur who is passionate about rethinking what is possible when it comes to building a community where people know in their hearts they are not alone and a path forward is possible always.  Presently she serves as the Director of 988 and Crisis at United Way of Northeast Florida.  For the last 25 years she has worked as a social worker and leader, to find innovative ways, through community collaboration, to address the social and behavioral health needs of vulnerable populations.  She has had the opportunity to see the healthcare system through the eyes of the people she has had the privilege of caring for and believes we, together as a community, can create an effective way to identify and connect with people who are feeling hopeless and their families before it is too late. 

Hannah has worked across the healthcare continuum and her experience includes inpatient behavioral health, community behavioral health, substance use disorders, mental health and aging, integration of primary care and behavioral health, geriatric care coordination, suicide prevention, addressing the social determinants of health, and crisis lines.  The common thread in all of the experiences is her desire to be part of sharing the light of hope.  Hannah is grateful for all she learned in recent years about inspiring hope through the light of lived experience and is committed to building the science of hope.  She believes, ultimately, it is the most powerful gift we can give the world that can impact lives in perpetuity—the science of hope.

Chris Rousselle

Chris Rousselle has been with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office as a Police Officer for 9 years, with the past 5 focused on behavioral crisis response. He played a key role in building and launching the Co-Responder and Behavioral Crisis Response Units at JSO, helping shape how the department approaches mental health and crisis situations. Passionate about making a difference on the front lines, Chris brings both experience and heart to every call.

Megan Huizer

Megan Huizer is the Team Leader of the Suicide Prevention Program Link to Life and suicide prevention trainer at the Mental Health Resource Center. She holds a Master’s Degree in Human Services- Leadership and Organizational Management and has been with MHRC for 4 years. She has been working in mental health and social services for over 13 years and is currently furthering her education in Human Services by completing a Doctorate’s degree.